Sorry this took so long to get up. I was re-reading what I had been writing and realized I had some time-line issues. So I have been repairing those. Just to let you all know (Pianogirl and ChaseROCKS) Ben is in Chapter 10! I hope to be able to upload that Chapter early next week if I can.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Disclaimer: I do not own Chase or any of the characters.

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He wanted to hold his head while it pounded but he couldn't raise his left arm. He shifted his position and the jab of two broken ribs caused him to grunt heavily. He opened his eyes. At least he tried to open his eyes. His broken nose had swelled up and caused his eyes to swell almost shut. Did anything not hurt?

"Jimmy!" Annie's voice was breathless with worry. "Shhhhh – you are in bad shape. I need you to lay still and answer my questions, ok?" Jimmy grunted in response and he lay back on the hard concrete floor. Annie squeezed his right ankle first. Jimmy flinched slightly. "Is it a sharp pain?"

"No" Jimmy gasped, "just sore."

Annie moved to the left ankle and got no reaction from Jimmy so she headed up to the knees. She could feel the swelling on Jimmy's right knee first. She pressed gently and moved the knee cap around. It was still intact which was a good sign. He probably just had a contusion from the steering column. The left knee seemed ok but she pressed on it anyway. Jimmy was quiet – wait, too quiet? "Jimmy!" She whisper-shouted in his face. He needed to stay awake.

"What" came the stern pain-filled response. Jimmy was talking thru his teeth that were firmly clenched in agony.

Annie put her hand to her forehead in relief. "Sorry, I thought you had passed out again. Jimmy, how is your right knee? Does it hurt?"

"No" another grunted answer.

She continued up his body further to feel the girdle of his pelvis for any break. She knew this was sensitive for a man but she needed to know before she moved him. It felt intact to her but she glanced up at Jimmy's face for confirmation. There planted on his bloodied face was the Jimmy grin that warmed her soul but it was temporary as the grimace of pain replaced it.

Annie deserted her search for all of Jimmy's broken bones and scooted up to his face. She held it between her hands and looked into his swollen eyes. She had always counted on Jimmy to pull her out of a mess. He had been the grounding force in her life. He had kept her safe. Now he was counting on her to get them out of this mess. She was to blame. They had used her as bait because predictably, Jimmy would come to her rescue and be an easy mark. "Well, you seem to be whole from the waist down."

A gurgled laugh was the response from Jimmy. "Ugh, please don't make me laugh." Jimmy tried to squinch up his face in pain but that hurt his broken nose, "Ugh." Jimmy was starting to pant. Annie had her hands gently touching his shoulders as she stared intently at the blood on Jimmy's lip. She was suspecting broken ribs and that could lead to a punctured lung.

"Jimmy, shhhhhh, calm down. You can't laugh. Jimmy, you have at least two broken ribs…"

"And I could puncture a lung, yea, I am completely familiar with the order of things." Jimmy gasped his interruption. Jimmy's raspy breathing worried Annie more and more.

She was going to have to be counted on to save the both of them. Could Jimmy handle that? He was going to have to!

"OK, Jimmy just answer with a shake or nod the best you can, ok?" Jimmy slowly nodded looking Annie sharply in the eye. Annie opened Jimmy's shirt and carefully pulled up his undershirt. She wanted to see what she was dealing with.

Even in the dim light she could see the bruising where the airbag had punched Jimmy on the right side. He must have spun in his seat when the airbag deployed. She closed her eyes for a second trying to keep the horror at bay. She could not show Jimmy her concern.

Annie blindly felt for Jimmy's shoulder. He hissed in pain when she found what she was looking for. His collar bone was broken and it was displaced. She could feel how severe it was with her fingertips. When she opened her eyes, Jimmy's face was turning white/grey. The pain was putting him in shock. This could not happen!

Annie carefully stripped Jimmy's shirt off. She let the robe she was wearing drop around her feet as she pulled his shirt over her own shoulders. She needed the thicker, warmer robe to keep Jimmy from going into shock. Standing around in only her underwear wasn't going to do anyone any good. She carefully tucked the robe around Jimmy trying not to cause him any more pain. She needed him to survive and it was starting to look bleak.

As Annie sat next to Jimmy trying to keep him alive, she began looking around at their environment. She had been dumped here shortly after mid morning. At the time Annie had felt too woozy to venture around her surroundings. It had been just after 1pm when they discarded Jimmy in a heap next to her. Even though he was unconscious, he had groaned in pain. Annie spent, according to Jimmy's watch, about 5 minutes trying to get him to wake up.

This was the first time she had taken the time to understand her surroundings. They were clearly in some sort of container box. Annie sniffed the air. It had that fresh dirt smell, like after a fresh rain. Had she ever smelled that before? Jimmy's breath labored away, his head in her lap. "Keep breathing" Annie whispered and kissed Jimmy's forehead.

-\\-

"Daisy, I just finished talking to Agent Perez" Marco said as he entered the conference room. Daisy spun around and narrowed her eyes on Marco. Agent Perez had been very aware of what Marco and Jimmy had done to get Annie back and Daisy was apprehensive getting him in this mix when the chief was running the show.

"Daisy, he knows the Cordova cartel like the back of his hand. He helped us bring them down. Technically he and I are in danger of being their next target." Marco shoved his hands in his pockets while he looked sincerely at Daisy. Daisy nodded, "What did he say?"

"He said that they were aware of Manuel but weren't sure until now what his intentions are. Apparently the lines have been active again. The Cordova family wants their territory back and Manuel isn't really into negotiations. I think we are going to be seeing some collateral damage within the Satevo cartel soon."

"They want their territory back from the Satevo cartel…" Daisy repeated quietly. "Marco, where were the old Cordova drug drop sites? Do we know?"

Marco's eyes brightened and he walked up to the map. He ran his finger up the San Jacinto river and paused and pointed at three different spots along the way. "Here, here and here were known drop-offs. You think we should go check them out?"

Before Daisy could answer, Bouff came blundering into the room out of breath. Everyone knew he had a soft spot for Annie so his nerves were clearly frayed over the fact that she was missing. "Another call to the chief! You gotta come…. Now…" Bouff sprinted out of the conference room with Daisy and Marco on his heels.

They could hear the loud voice of Manuel Cordova over the speaker phone before they made it into his office. Luke was already there. "Here is my short list of demands, 1. my brother gets released, 2. my family's property holdings in south Houston, Sugar Land and Crescent Oaks get reallocated back to my family and we are allowed to move back in and live peacefully. And finally, 3. all vehicles, airplanes and cars, that were previously confiscated get returned to my family. Oh, and 4. you leave my family alone! Do you have any questions about these 4 points? I am prepared to stay on the line for as long as you need. I know you are tracing the call. Just try to find me. HAHAHAHAHA – you won't." Manuel's sarcastic angry voice made everyone on the team even more concerned for Annie and Jimmy.

The chief responded after giving some pause, "Before I ask any questions, I want an update on my Marshals. If they are dead, it dramatically changes my questions. I need proof they are still alive." Somehow he was able to keep his voice controlled and calm.

"Do you have any questions about my list of demands?" Manuel was not prepared for the chief's response and it confused the team. He should have prepared for that reaction! It was a common reaction! Had they just found one of Manuel's weaknesses? A chink in his armor?

Calmly Brown repeated, "proof. I need proof."

"Then they can die!" Manuel screamed into the phone and hung up. He was completely out of control and Brown looked up at the team in front of him. This case was getting worse by the minute as Manuel's temper elevated beyond white hot. "I think there is something else going on with him."

-\\-

Jimmy was getting worse, Annie could hear it and feel it. She had to get him to a hospital and soon. She took a deep breath and started devising her plan.

She had found that they were in a storage container. It was long and narrow with the only light coming in from the ends where the doors didn't quite seal. Annie crawled over to the edge to see if the crack revealed any information about what to expect outside. She saw more metal. That was it. Perhaps they were sitting on some sort of pallet or something. She really could not see. What she could feel was that the box had been getting steadily hotter and the fresher cool air coming through the crack helped her realize how much hotter it had gotten inside. This was yet another reason to get the two of them out of there as soon as possible.

Annie came back over to Jimmy and looked at the watch on his wrist. It was almost 4pm. Luckily the heat of the day was behind them. Jimmy had been with her in the container for 3 hours now. He had been suffering through the immense agony for over 3 hours now and it was taking its toll on him.

Annie went back over to the door and searched the gloom for any sort of door opener. But that wouldn't make sense to have a container be open-able from the inside, would it? Annie's rattled brain was trying to think it all through when a shadow cast across the crack in the door; Annie scurried back to Jimmy's side in an attempt to block him from view.

The doors swung open and in walked Manuel Cordova. Even though she had met him the night of her abduction, she saw him again as a taller version of his brother and significantly more muscular. "Well, it has gotten hot in here, hasn't it? Kinda makes you wonder how people survive when they are packed in like cargo to be tossed over the border, huh? Maybe you don't wonder… Hmmm …" Manuel paced distracted. Then he continued suddenly agitated, "Your team better give me what I want. If they don't, you will have other fears to worry about."

Annie had stood upon his entrance and Manuel stepped up to her and looked down at her, face to face. "I think you know what I am talking about." Annie glared eye to eye fixated on not backing down or showing any weakness.

Manuel broke the eye contact by wandering around the back of her. It gave Annie a moment to focus on the view outside. Was that the gravel mill outside? How had she gone from the San Jacinto River just south of downtown to the shipbuilding jetty almost ten miles away without feeling the movement?

Then she remembered the white cloth that had covered her nose and mouth. She hadn't been able to fight back at the time, her head still spinning from the earlier blow to the head. Annie touched her eye remembering the blow. It still felt puffy but she could finally see out of it.

Deep in her thoughts, she had almost forgotten about Manuel's presence until he rounded in front of her. "Ah, I see my work has left its mark" he chuckled arrogantly.

Annie's simmering anger instantly boiled over and she swung full force with her right hand at her rival's head. He grabbed her fist in mid air and grabbed her neck with his free hand. Annie struggled to breathe as she tried to figure out why her normally strong punch was so easily thwarted. Manuel threw Annie to his feet as if she weighed nothing and bent over. His eyes were frantic. Annie knew the answer immediately and it terrified her. Manuel had been sampling his own goods.

He was amped up on something and it gave him Herculean strength. Annie rolled as fast as she could away from his vicious kick but she was too late. The metallic toe on his boot caught her right in the ribcage. It took the air right out of her. She had to calm him down and get him out of there if she and Jimmy were going to survive this. Escape would have to wait for another time.

Annie knew that pretending to be passed out was her only answer. She prayed that Jimmy would stay still so that Manuel didn't remember he was even there. She lay there like an opossum. Manuel was screaming down at her, foaming at the mouth and shaking all over. He kicked her one more time and Annie bit her lip to keep from yelping. When there was no reaction, Manuel stood up and wandered like a rabid animal out the door of the container and off toward his car.

Annie tried to sigh in relief but it hurt so she just grunted. "Boots, are you ok?" Jimmy tried to keep his voice raspy and calm but he was terrified. For the first time he wasn't able to keep her safe. He couldn't even move. Annie scurried over to his side mindless of the pain in her ribcage.

"Jimmy, don't talk. Shhhhhh. I am ok, I am ok. Just stay still. Nod or shake, is your breathing getting worse?" Annie was petrified. She knew that the window to get Jimmy to a hospital was closing quickly. Jimmy started to shake his head but knew she needed to know the truth. He nodded slightly panting. The pain was getting worse. Annie blinked tears out of her eyes. There was no time to cry right now. She needed to figure something out – NOW.